Sefer Biurim by R. Natan Shapiro - Venice, 1593 - Early Signatures

Sefer Biurim by R. Natan Shapiro - Venice, 1593 - Early Signatures

Sefer Biurim, super-commentary to Rashi's commentary on the Torah, by R. Natan Shapiro of Horodna. Venice: Matteo Zanetti and Comino Presegno, [1593].

Contains several illustrations: map of Eretz Israel, Jacob's ladder, the Temple menorah, and more.

Although this work is attributed on the title page (and throughout the book) to R. Natan Shapiro, it is in fact a forgery. R. Natan's original super-commentary to Rashi's commentary on the Torah was published at the same time, by his son R. Yitzchak, under the title Imrei Shefer (Krakow and Lublin, 1590-1597). In his foreword to Imrei Shefer, R. Yitzchak, declared Sefer Biurim to be a forgery. The book was then banned by the rabbis of Poland.

Many early ownership inscriptions on the title page (on both sides) from Weibhausen and Teising, Bavaria, Germany, including an acrostic poem.
180 leaves. 19 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains, including dampstains. Marginal open tears to title page, affecting title border, and tears to several other leaves (tape repair to one leaf). Worming, affecting text. Leaves trimmed with damage to headings and text in several places (including marginal damage to map of Eretz Israel and illustration of the Temple menorah). Handwritten inscriptions. New binding.